Had the opportunity to sit in a wreaked 26 CX-5 at work and reset the infotainment. This confirms I will never buy this car or any future Mazdas if this spreads to the rest of the line up. The infotainment system forces Google on you with no way to fully opt out, there is a scary level of data collection inevitable from the always on microphone input under the guise of voice command, and there is no way to decline the terms and conditions of Google to use the car without it. Ota will inevitably replace Assistant with an even worse spyware, Google Gemini, to likely train itself on conversations in your car further, again no way to opt out. I haven't tried removing the telematics fuse if even possible, so juries out on how to handicap it.
Worse the controls are inane. HVAC buttons are tiny which will make it difficult to use on any of America's notoriously bumpy pothole ridden roads (anyone with experience using touch controls on aftermarket radios knows how annoying it is to accurately aim your finger and press to turn volume up or something). Annoyingly the corporate excuse when this was first revealed was "it's safer to ask Google assistant (Gemini) to adjust your HVAC", further emphasizing the first paragraph. Not to mention it's too easy to buffer overflow inputs and lag out the interface
I will not buy any car with this crap in it, Mazda or not. When the time comes to upgrade from my 2012 Mazda 3, I will likely get a 4th gen, but if this spreads I will go no newer than that. It's incredibly disappointing the direction this industry is going, and that this brand is following suit
What a terrible decision to go this route by Mazda. The balance they struck between digital and manual controls in previous models was such a success. Now it’s a soulless slab of touch screen
Chinese Market wants only Touchscreen and thefor the Car is tuned towards that market this is due to Western Countries not being the N1 Customer anymore
..no. Mazda sold 75,000 cars last year in China vs 410,000 in the US. This is Mazda being cheap. I’ll go a step further and say that even Chinese drivers are getting sick of giant screens everywhere, but again they are cheaper than actual physical controls and smart design integration.
While yes the concensus is that Mazda Enthusiasts hate it the Wider Concern was mostly Competitivness against Chinese Domestic manifacturers and since getting data out of China is difficult and datacollecting in general is illegal its kinda impossoble to find out if the general population hates it or loves it
The actual reason is definitivly China since any form of buttons which can be put into Touchscreen gets rejected by consumers there as being too Archaeic and guess what West isnt exactly the N1 customerbase China is
It's money. physical controls are expensive and Mazda is trying to make their cars feel more luxurious while not being a luxury vehicle price and this is where they can save money. Less wire, less buttons, less labor while also getting a cut from Google.
Can’t find it, but the Germans had posted something about how much these systems save. Initially its low, but when you think about how they never have to retool new buttons, switches, across multiple models, and all they need is just a one screen and one software system they can use across every car, the savings are huge long term. They aren’t going back unless it hits their bottom lines in a big way. Based on sales not happening, text book enshitification
100% this! I recently test drove a CX-6e, and getting back in my trusty CX-5 (2014) felt like such a relief. The new car seriously felt like such a downgrade in many key aspects!
Are we in unprecedented times? Haven’t new cars always felt like genuine upgrades?
Bro.... Anytime you use anything with Android Auto or Apple Car play, you are already consenting to some of your telematics data going up there...
I work on these headunits with telematics and smart phone integration for work that go to all manufacturers... Mazda is not making their own.
Every manufacturer gets the head unit and telematics units from one of the few suppliers: Harmon, Visteon, Alps Alpine, Mobis, Access, Telenav, Denso, Bosch, Panasonic, Continental, Aptiv, and the list goes on.
If this bothers you, then simply don't buy a new car. Because it's the case for EVERY NEW CAR... Some cars just aren't disclosing things properly.
I wrote part of the Android O/S that goes into every mobile android device, and although Android Auto and Android Automotive was fork branch off of main line Android AOSP and has it's own front end different from mainline Android AOSP.....
you need Google Play Services library if you want to do anything related to Google Maps, Google Apps (Gmail, Doc, Sheets, Message, Meet,etc) on a mobile device.
Manufacturers that have an Android OS based O/S but opt not license Google Play Services end up with a severely crippled headunit, and often times they end up giving your data to some alternative provider to mimic the services offered by the Google Apps. At least with Google wervices and Apple services, you know they have to be compliant with North America and European PII data laws, and when they get caught there are reprecussions. You think buying a Volvo or a Polestar where the data is warehoused in China is any better?
I work on this shit for a long time now both before my early retirement, and now post early retirement as a consultant that does this with AI for newer startups trying to break into the telematics/headunit app market. It's one of these reasons why I generally don't like these "rolling computers on wheels". I prefer older cars that are NOT connected without digital screens spanning the entire front dash, or older exotics that aren't connected. DCT transmission in a super car is as automated as I want to get. I don't "need" a car that can self park or can self drive.
Not really insider info. It's common knowledge each car manufacturer doesn't make most things themselves.
Most of the headunit/automotive work these days, even if it's from a company headquartered in the US or Europe, the software/firmware is mostly sub-contracted out to a few companies in India.
Has the concept of simply using Bluetooth or a thumb drive for music completely disappeared or what? That gives you 99% of everything you’ll ever need.
I have a 3rd gen 3 and a 2nd gen CX5 and that’s what we do.
The only thing AA or CP is good for is mirroring your screen for Maps.
And sure I get it using Google Maps on your phone still collects your data but why does the car itself need all this crap? No thanks
Cmon, you’re not honestly expecting the market for “buy a thumb drive, load your music onto it, then plug that manually into your car” to be very big at all right?
I actually still use my thumb drive because my music was stored in Google Music and the shut it down, and moved everything over to YouTube Music... But YouTube Music doesn't allow you to play tracks or create play lists on Android Auto unless you are YouTube premium member...And I refuse to pay for premium membership.
I would just leave the music downloaded on my phone and I a local media player that is Android Auto compliant...But that takes up phone space. So it's just cheaper and easier to dump everything onto a small micro SD card and put that in a usb adapter and call it a day.
That's the other things. People talked about cord cutting. And they did with the cable company. But now they pay more for all the subscriptions to YouTube Premium, Netflix, Disney+, etc added together. Go figure.
But if you really want to do use the headunit as a screen caster, all you need really is one of these cheap carplay/android auto devices.
Some go as low as $5-9. But these devices typically connect via CarPlay or Android Auto, and then allows you to cast from your phone.. Some even have a neflix player and you don't even need your phone, it's on the device itself. It basically provides a WIFI hotspot that your iphone or Android phone connects to via CarPlay or Android Auto, and then it interfaces to your car's headunit.
Google Maps is very useful and that's where car play and android auto helps a lot.
Right, and I’m glad you found a tech solution that works for you…but you don’t honestly think that’s a reasonable thing that millions of people will do too, right?
No, I think as long as people want all this junk in a car, manufacturers will give consumers what they want... and at the risk of consumers getting mad theit their privacy is being violated, lol.
Just use Bluetooth to stream music if that's what you like and your steering wheel controls will still work and still display music info on your screen. You don't need AA or CP for that. Phone calls work obviously. Like I said the only thing AA or CP is good for is mirroring the map on the screen, that's literally it.
Serious question, when you play music with BT does the stupid/awful GraceNote album display kick in? My 2023 CX5 has a toggle to turn that off but it doesn't actually toggle. It's one of the reasons I hate using just Bluetooth to play audio in my car.
You know you can just use Bluetooth and still stream music if that's what you like and your steering wheel controls will still work it'll still display music info on your screen. You don't need AA or CP for that. Phone calls work obviously. Like I said the only thing AA or CP is good for is mirroring the map on the screen, that's literally it.
Yes im aware but sometimes it only goes to the Bluetooth and I can tell how much shittier the voice commands are, and it doesnt play automatically. Also Bluetooth is broken with text messages, it pulls all of my texts from the past year and gives me all the notifications. Bluetooth is objectively worse
Bluetooth MAP (message access protocol) sucks... I wrote one of the stacks that originally went into Android O/S and well, what can I say, it just sucks. Rarely implemented correctly on the head unit.
This goes wart beyond streaming music, you know that right?
Bluetooth and thumb drives for music are one thing but literally everything else in the new CX5 is controlled through the panel. I think that’s the rub. Not how the music is played.
True. Sort of... you're talking about using something like A2DP over bluetooth. The problem with that is integration between Bluetooth devices, especially multiple android phones from different makers can be a big interop issue.
Unlike Apple iPhones, which generally have less wireless interop issues, Android phones so many companies make Android phones, and they all use different connectivity chipsets. Qualcomm, Broadcom, MediaTek, Samsung, and some lower cost ones from china like Huawei on 2nd or 3rd tier devices.
A lot of phones simply will not work over Bluetooth due to interop issues.
Do you have to click through a lot to get here?
I mean i love my buttons, thats why i got a miata (among other obvious reasons) but if it stays like this and i dont have to click through a lot of buttons to get to this I dont mind as much.
Every car manufacturer* and mazda has been collecting info off you since their latest Gen. All current Gen of their lineup even before this CX5 are connected to the mazda network 24/7.
This is because of Google Automotive, it’s basically Android for cars, and because it’s from Google, they force this. Like with any Android phone too, that’s inevitably listening to you at all times as well 🤷♂️, so unless you got Apple listening to you or are one of the 5 people that have a Linux phone, there’s no way to escape this without sacrificing a lot
I'll never buy anything newer than probably 2013 again. I hate the overwhelming, surveiling electronics that come with every new car. The lack of an opt-out is completely unacceptable. My 2007 Sequoia is perfect. I'll probably get a used Lexus next.
You can opt out. Just call. It's not that hard. 2025 CX30 BASE has actual knob/button controls in the vehicle... the more gadgets you add the more integrates the electronics interface needs to be.
And will do so until like 2030, as they announced a refresh of that model will not happen until then. I have a CX-30 with touchscreen and I only use it when the navigation pop ups mess too much with the dial controls.
I had a loaner ‘26 CX-5 when my ‘22 3 was in to fix a broken door handle, and absolutely hated it. A sales guy asked what I thought when I was talking to the service advisor and I told him that if that bullshit showed up in the 3 or MX-5 I would never buy another. I’ve bought 5 Mazdas so far, but if this continues I’ll just repair my current ones until they disentegrate.
This exactly is what we need. It's why I bothered posting this at all. Manufacturers look for consumer consensus for permission to follow trends. If people are vocal about it enough it may influence what they think is consensus. I'm not even necessarily against these things being in cars (save for the lack of physical controls that needs to stop), all I'm asking for is a choice to opt out or not. Let people have their Google services, but let me reject them by rejecting terms and conditions and turn all of them off, not just the ones they give you toggles for (as seen in my pictures you cannot turn off everything)
This is the most idiotic decision Mazda has ever made! They ruined a perfectly fine car, and destroyed their reputation in the process. I bought the last 2025 CX-5 in my region just to avoid this abomination. I'll have to keep this CX-5 for a decade, because it will take at least that long for Mazda to come to its senses.
Well yes but actualy no think of it more like you sending a Google Maps link from your Phone to Laptop your phone is not runni h the Maps on the PC but the phone told the route you wanted
Nope - I’m so sick of giving corporations massive amounts of my data for them to sell to some dickhead overseas. What happened to privacy? I just want some back please.
Ugh! Sorry this design was forced on the consumer.
My CX 5 2024 was at dealer. Dealer loaned me a 2026 with the new display. Nah will keep my 2024.
I can’t wait till they start charging subscriptions for headlights, heated seats etc. BMW started charging subscription for options you already own a couple years back. Heard the owners weren’t too happy with paying extra for items they already own. Yeesh.
I don't care much about the telematics stuff since I use android auto and I assume it comes with the territory. I do care about software stability when it comes to anything related to the car and my experience with Google's software stability on the Pixel phone has been trending downwards in the past 1-2 years. The worst are regression bugs where things used to work fine but then regresses. I include Gemini on this when it adds nothing to Assistant but just makes everything slower (e.g. simple navigation requests).
I was at my local dealer getting some work done and was browsing around.
The new era of mazda, the cars just feel cheap. From the seats to the overall finish plus I'm also not a fan of google and big brother listening to you.
It's funny how militant people are on reddit. "I'll never buy another Mazda again". For one, almost all cars are doing this, and two, I guess it just doesn't matter to me that much.
I like the knobs in mine but it isn't the reason I bought my mazdas. Pretty far down the list of priorities, actually.
Nobody cares if "it just doesn't matter" to you "that much". And, no, not "all cars are doing this". Most manufacturers are reversing course and putting buttons/knobs in their cars again. 🤦♂️
Not to the extent of Google ads dude. Source: I worked for a company that bid on Google’s data. We could build a whole detailed data set of every app, search, guessed interest, demographic, friend, location, probably know more about you than your closest friend do, and for free.
Ai makes things harder, but at least reddit can wipe data. I’m not in Facebook and try not to use google for anything. All ads are blocked on all my devices. Anything Google is questioned.
Of you only use your phone as the control and don’t try to connect to these services is it still required? TVs have done stuff like this for years, but I never connect mine so no issues. Curious if this is similar.
The screens in my pics are on initial setup and can't be skipped. Unlike my TV that doesn't have a built in 5g modem and let's me skip connecting to wifi to set up (so it just runs in basic mode). It would be fine if I were given the choice
Your "old TV" simply did not have the disclosures that are required by US and EU privacies laws that recently went into effect over the past few years that it required manufacturers to display a disclaimer concerning PII and data sent. Your "smart" tv, if you have one, I guarantee is sending diagnostic data if it is "connected", it's just your TV being old pre-dates any of the regulatory requirement PII laws that has since been created to disclose and guard consumers and disclose data collection. Because as part of making some TV's "smart" with Android, I worked on those too 🤣....pre-early retirement...
My tv is from 2022, a Sony Bravia Google TV not connected to wifi. I have an external Roku if I need to use a streaming service but it's usually not plugged in. Usually use my laptop on HDMI to watch things
I'm not sure what the fuss is about. Your TV has Google TV, and if you did connect it over WIFI ,it would also have disclosures about PII too.
Sure you can choose not to connect to it.
But it's different on a car. On a car, people expect things like Google Maps and Navigation to work. You simply cannot use without Google Services because it's a shared component that is integral part of how the headunit system works. That's the same thing on your phone. When you first setup your iphone or android phone, it has the same location and PII discloures that you see on your head unit. And you have the same options to opt out of location sharing and sending diagnostic data.
Google Play services is part of the O/S, it's needed to run beyond just the wireless connectivity, there's a lot of standardlized common libraries that an Android based headunit depends on. You cannot simply turn off the component, and like I said that's on all automotive headunits that are Android Automotive based, You will see the same issue with any other new car using the same technology. Mazda didn't invent this or make their own headunit.
I agree with you on the lack of physical button, which frankly is also a problem with other manufacturers...But any new car that has CarPlay and Android Auto will have the same disclosures because they pretty much all work the same way.
Even toyota/lexus new infotainment system. You can't do really that much without creating a Toyota account in their backend system.
My phone is running a custom degoogled rom with microg spoofing play services, I use minimal apps and do most things in browsers (duckduckgo browser has YouTube AdBlock built in). I use HereWeGo for maps.
The difference is I have choice in my software, you are not given one in a car, not even the option to decline terms and conditions and only access basic features that do not involve Google. There is a 5g modem who's service is paid for by the manufacturer for telematics purposes, they at least for now, still let you call them to disconnect or you can remove the SIM, but that could be prevented easily if they wanted.
GamersNexus' LG investigation is evidence of what's possible, skepticism is warranted where internet connection and voice recognition is involved, and companies like Google are greedy for data for Gemini. There's a reason Mozilla dubbed cars the most privacy violating product that can be bought. I would like it to not get worse, or at the very least be given a choice. Otherwise I'll choose to not give them thousands of dollars for their cars
You are given a choice in cars....dont buy any of the newer cars....just like you don't have to buy an iphone... Dont buy mazda, dont buy toyota, dont by any of the Euro cars.. Definitely dont buy any cars that are owned by a china main company such as a volvo or polestar. Definitely dont by a tesla, or GM car. Ford and chrysler too. I haven't checked hyundai and kia, but i think they are same case. Drive pre a OBDII 1998 or older car so when you do a smog check they arent connecting your car OBDII port pulling info out of your PCM and the BAR-OIS smog test machine is not sending data to the cloud about your car. Pay the $100+ to get a smog check the old fashion way for a car that doesnt have OBDII.
Or dont use social media if you really are paranoid about your PII
MicroG has its own set of issues. To use it correctly on a lot of things, you are basically going to need to do signature spoofing if i recall. That opens up a completely different set of issues.
But if you really want to live off grid, i agree it can be done. Dont buy a newer car.
The phone/computer/browser youre using to post this to reddit is collecting infinitely more info on you than a future mazda will. Sucks to suck but this will also apply to ANY new car you buy 2020+ so unless youre shopping super used forever you best prepare yourself.
Thankfully the salesman took me back out to a CX5 to go over the touchscreen's features. It was only then I realized I wanted nothing to do with that stupid screen. New CX30 owner now.
I already hated the ‘26 but seeing the third slide with the actual controls makes me hate it even more which I didn’t think was possible. So happy I got a ‘25.
OP you can’t be serious right now. You (nor anyone) is FORCED to buy a trim with Google built in. If you don’t realize it before purchase that’s on you. Know what comes with your car before you buy it. And you’re facing many of the same issues when using CarPlay or android auto. Get this shitpost out of here.
You're wrong. He *IS* being forced to buy the Google infected version because some critical features are reserved for these trims. And, no, Apple CarPlay does NOT spy on you like Google does. Go learn some basic facts, and stop spouting nonsense.
If you don’t like Google built in then go buy a vehicle without it. Welcome to the modern world. New cars aren’t for everyone and that’s OK. Plenty of older, low mileage vehicles with the same features but without Google. If you want a top trim Mazda then enjoy Google. If not, find something else or go without things, it’s that simple.
That is the definition of 'comically oversized'. Why would you want or need such a gigantic screen?
There have been numerous studies at this point, too that consistently find that integrating core functions on the screen is both less efficient and more distracting than a physical counterpart.
There is quite a lot out there and it's not hard to look into. There was also a study prepared with the Toyota Research Institute and the University of Washington on this specifically.
One was less of a research-backed study and more of an arranged test, that was a comparison made with the Swedish magazine Vi Bilägare that looked into this by giving the same group of individuals the same tasks in a series of vehicles and measured their level of focus and efficiency. In part of this where the participants were meant to drive straight while performing all tasks, the Mazda CX-60 scored worse than every other model included.
This screen and lack of buttons made me purchase an almost new 2024 CX5 and not the 2026. Mazda you really screwed this one up. I can not purchase a new one unless there are buttons and knobs.
178
u/v_for__vegeta 1d ago
What a terrible decision to go this route by Mazda. The balance they struck between digital and manual controls in previous models was such a success. Now it’s a soulless slab of touch screen